Whole Forum Is Ads! (possible virus)

[Serpentine]

Something weird is going on with my computer. A bunch of random text has been turned into a link (green with a double underline, if that makes a difference), which, when passed over with the mouse, pops up with an ad.
For example, right now as I'm making this thread, these ad-links include:

"Serpentine" in the top right - text enhance "your chance to win an iPhone"
"Your" in "your PM box" - as above
"Order of the Stick" - link, no ad
"Rich Burlew" - link, no ad

So what the fricken-frakken is this "text enhance" crap? More importantly how do I get rid of it?

[Dallas-Dakota]

It's a virus on your computer, I've had it too. It doesn't affect your computer, but attacks through turning, as you said, random words into questionable links.(Never clicked on them to find out)
This most definetly is not something on the forums, but probably a bad link you've clicked.

Just run a virus scan and it should turn up with something, no time to look up the exact name.

[Saithis Bladewing]

Sounds like a virus to me, J. Better get yourself checked.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Yeah, sounds like a virus to me. I'd say check your browser add-ons as well, I've seen viruses installed through add-ons. Have you downloaded anything/clicked any strange links recently?

[Tyndmyr]

Yeah, probably a browser-jacking. If you have another browser, see if that exhibits the same behavior.

I'd probably go through and kill any browser extension/toolbar/whatever apps on principle, too.

[Traab]

Ive got it too. I ran antivirus, and three different adware stuff. Spybot, adaware, and mal something or other. None of them worked to get rid of it.

[Chromascope3D]

Definitely adware. I've had it before.

[Serpentine]

I should say, it turned up just after I'd run Avast, Spybot and Malwarebytes, and another run of all three found nothing. I can't think of anything especially suspicious that I've looked at recently.

[Gorgondantess]

That's Text Enhance, right? I've had it before. Clear your cache/cookies.

[Chromascope3D]

What was the last thing you installed? Also, are all your anti-virus programs up-to-date?

[Serpentine]

Cleared my cache. There's less of those links - like most of the Text Enhance ones seem to be gone - but there's still a bunch of Amazon ones.
Just checked Spybot, Malwarebytes and Avast. They all looked pretty up to date, but I'm updating them and running them again anyway just in case.

[Reluctance]

Random question, but how much of a gamer are you? Not to be that Linux geek, but I've been pretty happy since going Ubuntu. Loss of software options does kinda suck, though.

If you're devoted to your games, to Netflix, or to something similar that doesn't translate well, unfortunately all you can do is run your virus scans a few more times in safe mode. If that fails, you need a techy friend, and some cookies to bribe them with.

[Serpentine]

Somewhat of a gamer, and not confident enough in my computer skills for Linux.
Okay, a Google search suggested that it comes in the form of a plug-in or whatever. I disabled (and then deleted) an extension called "Fast Save" or something like that, which I didn't recognise, and it appears to have cleared up the problem.
Thanks all.

[The Succubus]

Somewhat of a gamer, and not confident enough in my computer skills for Linux.
Okay, a Google search suggested that it comes in the form of a plug-in or whatever. I disabled (and then deleted) an extension called "Fast Save" or something like that, which I didn't recognise, and it appears to have cleared up the problem.
Thanks all.

And the moral of the story is stop looking at websites with pretty under-dressed men on them.

[Capt Spanner]

And the moral of the story is stop looking at websites with pretty under-dressed men on them.

But how else do I follow the Olympic diving and swimming?

[Bhu]

And the moral of the story is stop looking at websites with pretty under-dressed men on them.

Actually gambling, sports, and celebrity websites are now more likely to infect you than pron.


Serp, are you running your programs in safe mode?

[NerdyKris]

Don't pay to have someone clean it.

Just back up stuff you want to keep (pictures, game saves, BOOKMARKS, etc. NOT executables), then format your hard drive and reinstall windows. (The long reformat, not the quickie)

It's the software equivalent of rebooting, and really, unless you have a LOT of programs you use on a daily basis (or professional software that requires a 12 step five hour install), is cheaper and faster than dealing with cleaning out a virus.

You'll usually find that you don't need most of those games and programs installed all the time, and it will be easier to just install them when you need them. It's the easiest way for me.

Even with a perfect firewall, you're going to get the occasional virus. It's a fact of life. It takes time to fix an exploit, and by then, an ad server has probably served that ad up to millions of people. Well, it wouldn't be a fact of life if ad services just did some basic reviewing of ads, but that's a whole other rant.

[Temotei]

She fixed it, so it's all good. :smalltongue:

[Serpentine]

Yeah. It's all fixed. It was really easy, and didn't cost anything at all...

[Dark Elf Bard]

Same thing happened to me.

[wadledo]

Actually gambling, sports, and celebrity websites are now more likely to infect you than pron.

All of those places are likely to have pretty under-dressed men on them.

[Morph Bark]

I've had that too. I got rid of it by doing something I've had to do a long time ago anyway: reinstalling my computer.

[Bhu]

All of those places are likely to have pretty under-dressed men on them.

Even the gambling?

[wadledo]

Even the gambling?

Yes. Yes they are.

[Traab]

Question, does anyone know what the heck MSXML 4.0 SP3 PARSER is?

*EDIT* Im going through my programs trying to figure out whats crap and whats not.

[The Succubus]

Microsoft eXtended Markup Language 3.0 Service Pack 3 Parser I'm guessing?

It sounds like something to do with the inter-tubes.

[Traab]

Ah, so dont remove it then? :p How about this then? Apple Application Support and Apple Software Update? Why is that on my distinctly non apple based computer?

[The Succubus]

Ah, so dont remove it then? :p How about this then? Apple Application Support and Apple Software Update? Why is that on my distinctly non apple based computer?

Quicktime and iTunes respectively.

[Traab]

Damn, then what the hell could be causing this mess? Nothing else is showing up on my add/remove program list but games like call of duty that I have had forever or other important programs that as far as I can tell, are legit. ive run multiple antivirus, and spybot/adaware type programs and gotten nothing. Ive pruned my way through my program list looking for anything wrong, and the damn word ads are still there! I also will sometimes get a small ad window in my bottom right corner of my screen when I open a new internet site. Its different from normal pop ups though.

[Dark Elf Bard]

It's happening again!

[Traab]

WE ARE CURSED! Clearly its time for... The Solution tm

Kill It With Fire

Ive got the gas, someone find us a match.

[Xiander]

I had this a while ago, I figured out it was due to a codec I had added to my browser in order to view some online content. Codec-c i think, if any of you have this installed, try disabling it.

I am running Google chrome, and have little knowledge of other browsers, but with chrome i can help if needed.

[Serpentine]

I'm with Chrome too.
I found it by looking at the extensions on the browser. I had one I wasn't sure about - "Fast Save" I said, didn't I? - so I disabled it, and the word links went away, so I went ahead and deleted it. Try having a look at your browser extensions instead of your programs.

[The Succubus]

Look for a Chrome extension called No Script - it prevents websites installing things without your say so. It'll be a pain in the ass the first time you use it because you'll need to do a lot of "Yes, this website is okay".

It's also worth thinking about the websites you visit regularly - do a process of elimination to see which one is installing the shifty add-on.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Isn't this BS?